 Get the latest version now (v1.5 only 40 KB)
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Get the latest version now (v1.5 only 40 KB)
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Light Cycle is a very simple game, but don't be fooled, playing it together is a lot of fun (at least 3 players!). Only 2 keys are used to guide your light cycle to victory. Each cycle leaves a trail of light and hitting a trail or the wall will crash your cycle. The first player to crash receives 1 point, the second 2, etc.
Light Cycle is not a network game (yet), so you will have to play it on one keyboard with a maximum of 6 players. This makes Light Cycle a social event too. Just make sure that everyone can see the monitor...
The 2 control keys turn your cycle clockwise and counter-clockwise and might take a while to get used to... Because the control is so simple very young kids can play it and develop their coordination. Since cycle has got no reference to death, you could see a 'crash' as just a mechanical problem. The driver is not hurt (just like the A-team ;) and the bike will be repaired for the next round.
The game is as simple as it was to program and I would not dream of asking you any money for it. I would like to know if you play it though. Please send me your comments/ideas.
Most people play with 1 hand and 2 neighbouring keys. The right one for clockwise and the left for counter-clockwise.
Try to confine your opponents to a small space and cut them off. You could stay out of the heat or hunt a single player. If you give a opponent half a change to lock you in, he might just try to hard ;-)
If you press both keys shortly after each other, you can make a small step in your path. This step can be as small as 1 pixel if you use both fingers simultaneously, but lift one a bit higher than the other. You can use this to press your opponent to a wall or to escape through a 1 pixel hole.
Choose your keys with care. My neighbour has got a good keyboard (BTC), but most (95%?) have problems with certain key combinations. Try this in a editor or at the DOS prompt: Hold the N and M key simultaneously and press a key from the same row... Most likely it will not work. If you hold A+Q+W, no key will work (not even ctrl-alt-del). This is why your special moves in mortal combat are so much harder in 2 player mode... I do not know the principle of this keyboard bug, but if I do I will check for illegal combinations at key definition in Light Cycle.
Try the wrap around option...
You can play Light Cycle on a very slow PC (with VGA), but a XT might be to slow for a 6 player game. You will get a warning if this happens. Cycle can not be played in a Windows DOS-box. Windows corrupts a timer interrupt used by Cycle... WIN95 works, but slow...
Tron is not new and there are many versions around. I made it years ago to learn programming in Turbo Pascal 3 (yep, many years) and because I could not find a multi-player version. It had cga, Hercules etc. support and soundblaster when I got one. The source code got rather messy and when Light Cycle became a hit at my student flat, I decided to rewrite it.
I have little spare time, but when I find a proper way to play samples (not MOD) and fm/midi music, some cool effects will be added. Most sound tools are to big or not good enough.
Network game play might be a problem because of the speed of the game. I will probably have to use one PC as a server (which does collision detect). Does someone know how this is done?
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| Remember the first law of multi-player games |
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Fun= C*(players)^2 or: more players is a lot more fun! |
All 3D pictures on this page modelled in PovRay by 
John McCarthy.
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